Display currently running
programs,
background processes, and some
performance statistics.

To Open

Ctrl-Alt-Del →
Task Manager

Right-click on empty portion of Taskbar
→ Task Manager

Command Prompt →taskmgr

keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+ESC

Description

Task Manager is an extremely useful tool, but is strangely omitted
from the Start menu. In its simplest form, it displays all running
applications, allowing you to close any that have crashed or stopped
responding. The main window is divided into the following four tabs:

Applications

Shows all foreground
applications as well as the status of each
one (see Figure 4-99). The Status can be
“Running” or “Not
responding.” You can switch to any running
application by double-clicking it, which makes it similar to the
Taskbar in this respect. Click New Task or go to File
→ New Task (Run) to start a
new program (which has the same effect as going to Start
→ Run).

Figure 4-99. The Applications tab shows the currently open windows, but not all running programs

Select any item and click End Task to close the program. Although
it is preferred to use an application’s own exit
routine, this function is useful for those programs that have crashed
or have stopped responding.

Processes

A process is any program running on your
computer, including foreground applications shown in the Applications
tab and any background applications that might be running (see Figure 4-100). Like the End Task button in the Applications
tab, the End Process button is used to close
unresponsive programs. Additionally, however, it allows you to close
background applications that otherwise have no window or other means
of exiting gracefully.

Right-click on any running task to display a list of options,
including End Process (see above), End Process Tree (similar to End
Process, but ends all “child”
processes as well), and Set Priority. The Set Priority menu allows
you to increase or decrease the priority of a program;
higher-priority processes may run better and are less likely to be
interrupted or slowed down by other processes, and lower-priority
processes are more likely to yield CPU cycles to other processes.
Note that changing a process’s priority may have
unpredictable results. It should be used only if that process or
application explicitly supports running at higher or lower
priorities.

Performance

The Performance tab shows several graphs, all
updated in real time, used to monitor the performance of the system.
The refresh rate of the graphs can be changed by going to View
→ Update Speed.

The CPU Usage is expressed as a percentage,
in which an average idling computer will take about 3 to 7 percent of
a processor’s clock cycles, and a computer running a
graphics-intensive game (such as one of my favorites, Black &
White) might take 80 to 90 percent. Don’t be alarmed
if your CPU Usage appears to be unusually high, although you may wish
to investigate running processes for crashed programs or even tasks
that may have been started by unauthorized intruders. (See “Active Connections Utility”, discussed earlier in this
chapter.) The CPU Usage History is a running history of the last few
minutes of CPU Usage readings; it can be very interesting to see what
happens to the CPU Usage History when you start a particular program
or just move the mouse around the screen. To change how Windows
handles multitasking, go to Control Panel
→ [Performance and
Maintenance] → System
→ Advanced tab, click
Settings in the Performance section, and choose the Advanced tab. If
you have a multiprocessor system, you’ll see a
separate graph for each processor, which can be very useful to see
how your processors are being utilized (see Figure 4-101).

Figure 4-101. The Performance tab shows a time-based graph of the load on your processor and virtual memory

The Page File Usage and Page File
Usage History work the same as CPU Usage, described above, except
that they report on the performance of the virtual memory. Virtual
memory is the portion of your hard disk used to store data when
Windows has used up all of your installed RAM. To change virtual
memory settings, go to Control Panel
→ [Performance and
Maintenance] → System
→ Advanced tab, click
Settings in the Performance section, choose the Advanced tab, and
click Change.

Also shown in the Performance tab are several performance-related
statistics, such as the amount of total and available memory, or even
the number of active handles (unique identifiers to resources, such
as menu items, Windows, Registry keys, or anything else Windows has
to keep track of).

Networking

Similar to the Performance tab, above, the Networking tab shows
real-time graphs depicting the performance of your network
connections. You’ll see a graph for each network
connection currently in use. See Chapter 7 for
more information.

The Options and View menus can be used to set several preferences;
note that the options available in these menus change depending on
the currently selected tab. For example, if you want to leave the
Task Manager open all the time, you may wish to turn off the
“Always On Top” option so that you
can see other running applications.

Notes

Task Manager replaces the Close Program box found in Windows 9x/Me
(via Ctrl-Alt-Del). However, instead of being a system-modal dialog
(meaning that when it is visible, all other applications are frozen
and inaccessible), it’s just another application
that can be left open all the time.